Hey so this was a idea I had while writing my other fic and I was having a issue writeing Brandish as a character then this poped into my head. I will only be posting Monday and Friday and they will be 1k words chapters after the first 2 which are 2 kwords. Anyway enjoy.
The gates of U.A. University looked like they were trying way too hard to be intimidating. Cid Kageno wasn't impressed. Hands stuffed in the pockets of his black hoodie, he shuffled through the entrance at the world's most unhurried pace. Eighteen years old, messy dark hair that hadn't seen a comb since yesterday, and the black eyepatch over his left eye finished the whole "I'm here but I'm tired so leave me alone" look. The eye patch caught the light every few steps, but nobody gave it a second glance. Good. He preferred it that way.
The written exam was exactly as mind-numbing as he'd expected. Cid filled in the bubbles with lazy flicks of his pencil, his ADHD causing his brain to bounce between the questions, the bird outside the window, and the faint hum of the air conditioning and random questions like if dogs could laugh what would it sound like. He still finished early, slouched back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling like it owed him money.
An hour after the written test, all the examinees were herded into the massive auditorium. Cid sat slouched low in a seat in the very back row, legs kicked out in front of him, one arm draped lazily over the empty chair beside him. He was half-dozing, eye drifting between the ceiling lights and the nervous whispers around him.
Present Mic exploded onto the stage.
"LISTEN UP, FUTURE HEROES! I'M YOUR HOST FOR THE DAY, PRESENT MIC! LET'S HEAR SOME ENERGY!"
The auditorium went completely silent.
Cid, without really lifting his head, raised one lazy hand just high enough to be seen and mumbled, "… woooo."
Present Mic froze, then pointed straight at the back row with a huge grin. "YES! ONE PERSON IN THIS WHOLE BUILDING HAS THE SPIRIT! THANK YOU, MYSTERIOUS EYEPATCH GUY IN THE BACK! I LOVE YOU ALREADY!"
A few heads turned. Cid gave the tiniest two-finger salute and went right back to zoning out.
Mic clapped his hands. "Alright, alright, let's get serious! Welcome to UA's practical entrance exam! I'll keep this quick and flashy!"
He launched into the full breakdown, holographic images lighting up behind him.
"There are three types of faux villains scattered across the mock city in every battle center that give points! The 1-pointers are the small fry—easy pickings! The 2-pointers are medium difficulty! And the 3-pointers are the big boys—tougher, but way more points! Your goal in the ten-minute time limit is to destroy as many as you can and rack up points! The more you smash, the better your score!"
Mic struck a pose. "Of course, attacking other examinees and any other unheroic actions are prohibited! But wait—there's more!"
A hand shot up in the front rows. Tenya Iida stood ramrod straight, glasses flashing.
"May I ask a question?"
"Okay!"
"On the printout, there are four types of villains. If that is a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of that foolish mistake. We examinees are here in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary heroes."
Mic laughed good-naturedly. "Good eye, listener! The fourth type of villain is worth zero points. That guy's an obstacle, so to speak. There's one in every battle center—an obstacle that will go crazy in narrow spaces. It's not impossible to defeat, but there's no reason to defeat it, either. I recommend that you listeners try to avoid it."
The moment Mic finished explaining the zero-pointer, Iida spun around, engine calves humming, and pointed directly at Izuku Midoriya a few rows ahead.
"In addition, you there with the curly hair—You've been muttering this whole time. It's distracting! If you're here on a pleasure trip, then you should leave immediately!"
Izuku flinched hard. "I-I'm sorry…"
Before Mic could jump in, Iida's sharp gaze swept the auditorium and locked onto the back row. He pointed straight at Cid, voice booming with righteous authority.
"And you! The one with the eyepatch, lounging in the back like this is a casual outing! Your lazy attitude and posture are completely unbecoming of someone hoping to become a hero! If you are not taking this seriously, then you should leave as well! This is no place for half-hearted participants!"
The entire auditorium went pin-drop quiet. Every head turned toward the back.
Cid blinked once. His visible right eye drifted left, then right, as if only now registering that someone had been talking to him at all. He sat up just a fraction, head tilting in genuine, unfiltered confusion.
"Huh…? Was someone talking to me?"
A ripple of snickers and whispers spread through the seats. Iida's engines sputtered in disbelief.
Mic quickly stepped in, waving his hands with a big laugh. "Okay, okay, Examinee… whatever numbers you are! Thanks for the great messages! The fourth type is worth zero points—like an obstacle in a video game. The whole thing is like a video game! That's all from me!"
He struck one final dramatic pose.
"Finally, I'll give you listeners a present—our school motto! The hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said: 'A true hero is someone who overcomes life's misfortunes.' Go beyond… PLUS ULTRA!"
The examinees erupted into motion, standing and filing out toward their assigned battle centers.
Cid stayed seated for one extra second, stretching like a cat waking from a nap, then pushed himself up and shuffled along with the crowd at his usual unhurried pace.
"Man… they really don't waste time, huh?"
The examinees spilled out of the auditorium and split off toward their assigned battle centers. Cid shuffled along at the back of the pack, hands in his hoodie pockets, yawning once as the massive concrete walls of Battle Center G came into view.
Dozens of applicants stood clustered in front of the towering gate—some bouncing on their toes, others stretching, a few muttering last-second strategies. The air crackled with nervous energy.
Cid wandered past them without a care, spotted a low concrete barrier beside the gate, and dropped onto it. One leg dangled, the other crossed onto his knees so he could sit his elbow on it and have his chin resting on his hand as he stared blankly at the closed doors like they were a mildly interesting cloud.
A few students shot him weird glances. He didn't notice.
The countdown clock above the gate ticked down.
Cid exhaled slowly, the silver Ouroboros on his eyepatch glinting in the sunlight.
"Guess it's showtime…"
The practical exam gates opened without warning.
While most students sprinted forward like their lives depended on it, Cid got up and walked. Slowly. Hands still in his pockets.
A three-pointer rounded the corner, claws raised. Cid's visible right eye flicked toward it.
"Command T: Shrink."
The robot shrank from ten feet tall to the size of a toaster in half a second. Cid kept walking and stepped on it. Crunch.
Two more charged from the side. He bent down, scooped up a handful of gravel, and flicked the pebbles like he was skipping stones across a pond.
"Command T: Expansion."
Each pebble shot forward, swelling mid-air into head-sized boulders that slammed the robots backward. Metal crumpled. Sparks flew. The bots went down hard.
Cid dusted his hands off. "Too easy."
He strolled through the next wave, shrinking bots to action-figure size and kicking them like soccer balls. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. A one-pointer tried to jump him from behind; it vanished down to palm-size in a blink. Cid caught it, crushed it in his fist, and let the scrap fall.
"Man… they really need better security around here."
---
Meanwhile, high above the mock city in the faculty observation room, the wall of monitors glowed with live feeds. Nezu sat at the head of the table, paws steepled. Aizawa slouched beside him. Present Mic was still riding the high from hosting when one of the side screens caught his eye.
"Hold up—THAT'S the kid!" Mic pointed, grinning ear to ear. "The eyepatch guy! He's the only one who answered me earlier! I said 'let's hear some energy' and everybody froze… except him. Gave me the laziest little '… woo' I've ever heard. I love this dude already!"
Midnight chuckled. "You remember every single response, don't you?"
"Every one!"
Nezu's ears perked. "Then let's see what our interesting student is doing." He tapped the console. The main wall screen switched to full view of Cid Kageno.
The boy was still strolling like he was on a casual walk, hands in his pockets. Another three-pointer charged. It shrank to lunchbox size. Cid stepped on it. Two more appeared; he flicked gravel pebbles that ballooned into wrecking balls mid-flight and smashed them flat.
The room went quiet for a beat.
Present Mic whistled low. "He's shrinking entire robots like it's nothing. And those pebbles—flick, boom! Kid's turning gravel into artillery and he looks bored!"
Midnight leaned closer. "Line-of-sight, no contact, no visible strain. Ridiculously efficient for an eighteen-year-old."
Cementoss nodded. "The mass manipulation is precise. He's reading trajectories on the fly."
Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "Pull his file."
Nezu flicked a paw. Cid's applicant profile popped up beside the live feed.
**Quirk: Command T**
**Type: Mutation/Emitter Hybrid**
**Mutation:** Left eye possesses enhanced visual processing (full-spectrum analysis, predictive trajectory mapping, structural weak-point identification). User reports mild but persistent headache from constant data influx; keeps eye covered unless actively needed.
**Emitter:** Mass/size/proportion alteration of any visible target via line-of-sight. (Presumably not confirmed)
**Energy reservoir:** Internal (location redacted per privacy request).
**Notes:** High potential. Low effort observed in preliminary footage. Is on a watch list due to potentially damage such a quirk can cause. It is noted however that the threat level is set to low due to subjects attitude and psychological evaluation.
Nezu's smile widened, tail swishing. "Command T. Has the ability to cause damage on a Nation-scale if he ever feels like trying, And yet he's using it to flick pebbles and step on toys. This year is far more interesting than anticipated."
Present Mic pumped his fist. "Eyepatch kid's officially my favorite! Someone buy that man a coffee we can't have him ending up like Aizawa!"
Aizawa stared at the screen as Cid casually crushed another shrunken robot under his boot.
"…I'm stealing him for Class 1-A. He looks less troublesome than the others so far."